2026 Boys Varsity Lacrosse Season in Review

2026 Saint Edward's PIrate Boys Varsity

Seniors:  Connor O'Brien, Matt Vatland, Ivan Kelly & Mark Moore.

Seniors will receive a SES Varsity Blanket as a senior gift.

2026 Lacrosse Photos you may be interested in:

Saint Edward's Boys Lacrosse Videos: (Mahi Media Productions):

St. Edward's Season 2026              

Viera vs Saint Edward's 2026   

The Battle for Vero Beach

Charlie Corrigan provided versatility as a midfielder/attack player, who could also be counted on for SSDM duties.  His stickwork became consistent, helping him to an impactful season.

The 2026 season is now in the rear-view mirror.  I know when I started scheduling games in mid-June of 2025, a call from Tom West of Bolles School was a frightening prospect.  Figuring they had a squad much more refined and experienced than us overall, I was on one hand excited about the challenge, yet on the other hand thinking I might of had illusions of grandeur putting them on the 2026 schedule.  

Mind you, we knew we had Connor.  Mind you, we did not know that Ivan and Cole were coming to Saint Edward's.  Mind you, we knew we had some work to do with depth at Face-off, Goalie, Defense, SSDM, and we were not sure where our 6th offensive threat would come from, and certainly just six isn't enough!

We knew we needed to give the Goalie position a coach who spends hours developing the position, as well as the people we have there.  And frankly, we need that same thing with a face-off coach.  The game is so specialized at the face-off that it is really important to challenge the kids every day at this position alone.

By the time I finished the schedule in September, we had a schedule that I had to admit to myself we'd be lucky if this team made it to .500, but to be perfectly honest with you, I did not want to schedule any less in competition.  In my mind, losing to a stronger team is much more valuable than taking down a much weaker opponent.  Yet we knew the challenge in front of us would come on January 20th.

Brady McCoy also became more consistent as an offensive threat, adding to our versatility and effectively impacting his team.

1. There was a time when I first got here that I couldn't get really strong teams to play us.  2. There was a time when I got here that weaker teams didn't mind playing us.  3. Four years into my coaching at Saint Edward's, we were hosting or traveling to any strong team in Florida we could find, and literally for the next four years, we had the strongest schedule in Florida, with teams doing anything to get us on their schedule if they were a top ten team.  4. Two years down the road from that, we are turning down those calls now just so we don't overchallenge our team.

It's definitely a cycle, and we have been in a rebuilding cycle for three years now.  We believe we have a very strong group of 8th graders who can add to a pretty good 9th-grade group in 2026.  We have some strong upperclassmen returning with tons of experience through the rebuilding years, so we are definitely excited about next year, even as this season ends once again without getting past the Regional semifinal.  You might think I'm disappointed, but in fact it's just the opposite.  This group was a very good group to work with.  We learned along the way that everyone there was fighting to make the field and make a contribution.  We learned along the way how to be more selfless and more accountable for our actions and our playing time.  We learned along the way how to build on our skills and explore concepts to help develop a strategy.  We weren't perfect, and as we learned, the more significant aspect of this team was that they never gave in, they never gave up, and they continued to the end to fight.  And one thing I can say about this group, they were connected throughout the season.  The players worked on their wall ball faithfully, they got together off the field for team activities and dinners, and they supported our girls program and even made our traditional morning practice session, combined with our girls team, a new and wonderful success, catapulting us to a great first Regional Quarterfinal round win against a formidable opponent, First Academy.

So let me summarize the season in this way.  We had the ability to win almost every game this year.  I will discount a couple of games.  The first one, which we were not ready to win, was against Cardinal Newman.  The players and the coaches were not ready.  We couldn't get a preseason game, and it showed in just about every aspect.  We just were not ready.  

Mark Moore could always be counted on for his work ethic and athleticism.  He played some of his best ball this season down the stretch, giving his team everything he had!

1. Now you will never hear me say this, but in this one case, it may be true. We were ready to play Saint John Paul, but the officials weren't ready to make the right calls.  For the first time in all the coaching I've ever done, we had a goal scored against us that never went in the goal, nor did it come close... but, of course, it was called a goal.  First time ever I had a goal we scored, called back that it clearly wasn't a goal, and it wasn't even close.

Out of our eight losses, two were to Benjamin.  And although I'd like to say we should have won those, we aren't there yet with this group to handle them.  BTW, Benjamin captured their third successive state championship this year, and we just happen to be in the same District.    

There were three games when we didn't show up, or when we didn't fully understand that competitive teams compete hard and with intensity to beat us. In those particular games, we never matched, let alone exceeded, their competitive spirit and intensity.  We must continue to build our skills and intensity against very beatable teams like Pinecrest, Belen Jesuit, or Gulliver Prep.  If I had to say there were disappointments this season, it was those three losses when we just did not match the other team's desire.  Every one of those games started out well, but then the other team punched us in the mouth.  And once they understood we don't like getting dirty picking up groundballs, and we didn't like getting to our spots as a UNIT on the field to be competitive on defense or even offense at times, well, those games became telling of the mistakes we hadn't corrected from a couple of wins we bearly got out of town with, aka, at Martin  County (we built a comfortable 5 goal lead with 5 mins left in the game), Oxbridge Acad. (we had a 8-1 lead), and Holy Trinity (we blew a 8 goal advantage).  When our opponents figured out those two weaknesses, they took the game to us, and we didn't respond.

The Bolles game... uggh!  Well, they are 23-0 when I first started writing this summary, going to the State Semi-finals, where they lost to Benjamin 15-4.  All I can say is we should have won this game, we had them on the ropes and had them down by three going into the fourth quarter, and suddenly we couldn't win a ground ball, and suddenly we didn't get to our spots off ball on defense (protecting the middle of the defensive field).  Bolles wins 9-8.  It was a heartbreaking loss, but it was also an indicator that this team had some potential down the road if we could close some gaps.

In our best game all season, we wanted to compete, and we wanted to punch the other team in the mouth, so to speak, on each and every play of the game.  It was refreshing to learn in that game that if we really wanted something just as badly as our opponent, we could fight tooth and nail for everything.  And we did fight, not just for a quarter or just for a half, but four quarters with a fight that made our opponent buckle to their knees.  Of course, I'm talking about the Vero Beach game, apparently our Super Bowl.  Well, at least we found something to FIGHT for.  Now, I am hopeful that in the future our players understand that if they bring their skills, our concepts and strategies, and our FIGHT, we will reach a new level of play in each and every contest. 

Last but not least, I know we didn't win four games we thought we should have, but our returning players next year will hopefully understand the value of learning to be tougher on groundballs than our opponents.  In our last two games of the year, even our last against Benjamin, we became the better team at picking up ground balls, running them to space, and then finding help.  We learned to be more consistent at executing a defensive game plan, we learned how to reverse field when the other team overplayed us, we learned that not taking a play off has rewards that make you hold your head high, respecting an opponent in either win or defeat.

Ivan's athletic ability and aggressiveness help make for a tough senior defensive front.  All I can really say is I wish we had him for four years!  But an incredible year, playing injured throughout the season.

On some other fronts:

1. Our freshmen love beating their chests (before games).  It's hilarious, it's kinda really cool, it's a connection, and well, soon the entire team was doing it prior to our dynamic warm-ups!  And if an official ever asks do we have the correct shoulder/chest protection for the kids, I know our players would be ready to demonstrate our compliance with the NFHS regulation! 

2. This is my recognition of three awesome teammates:  Chase Colontrelle, Jackson Parker and Teddy Donohoe.  All three were a great help throughout the season, preparing the locker room for games and staying to clean up the small things.  There were others at times, but this trio was amazing, and I was so thankful for their devotion to their team.

3.  As you may know, Leaza Combs and Sloane Weber were our main distinguished stat keepers, and they did an amazing job helping with our stat line.  Sloane Moylan and Savannah Shambo also assisted as their schedules allowed.  I was very thankful for their work.  Just so you know how all this works, I take their stat line and the Qwikcuts breakdown, cross-reference them, and get the most accurate stat line, which then gets posted to MaxPreps.

4.  A huge thank you to our Team Parents supporting snacks, water, and team dinners after school and after games.  You are incredible.  Special thanks to all our Team Lead Parents: Kathleen Provancher, Katy Corrigan, and Shannon O'Brien (as well as their husbands).  It's always a team effort, but it does take leaders to make it all happen on a daily or weekly basis.

5.  Future prospects:  Saint Edward's brings an ecxcellent class of athletes and lacrosse players with the up and coming eighth graders, who become freshman next year.  Triston Scent and Finn Conforti got a lot of field time this season, and Shane Carroll had some more than proven minutes.  They will be joined next year with a class that be a solid help to our 2027 team:  Baxter Corrigan, JD Sorenson, Colseon Radecke, Cooper Travis, Cooper MacAuliffe, Rudy Radacaj, Noah Niemi, Carter Simpson, and Alex Andrews.  All of these players got some additional practice time in our playoff season, and a few of them got their chance on the varsity field of play in a playoff game or two.

6.  We return some well-seasoned veterans next year, as well as some who have been steadily gaining skill and confidence in each of our classes.  Next year's team should be an incredible next step forward, and I'm looking forward to those prospects alongside our returning complement of now-veteran players!

Matt Vatland and Cole Holland kept improving throughout the season.  Matt ended with the best game I've ever seen from him against Benjamin in the Regional semi-finals, dominating the face-off and owning groundballs.  Cole learned and worked as hard as anyone on the team, and became a steady asset on defense, wing play and helping to clear the ball to our offense.

So I end this summary with something from one of our freshman defensemen, who sings this song better than Steve Perry of Journey himself:  Don't Stop Believing! (click on)

Besides being a very good singer, Chase Colontrelle surprised the coaches by becoming a force on defense as a freshman, which is not easy to do!  He and Kayleb provided some key help after Spring Break, and Chase and Kayleb were faithful in getting on the wall during the 9th period.  Loved that they took ownership of their ability to help with our success! 

Something to keep in mind for 2027

May 2026-September 2026:  Don't Stop Believing!   Keep your game advancing by playing club ball or making sure you pick up your stick for wall ball daily/weekly, and get in the weight room (high priority)!  Play at your athleticism any way you can!  In particular, males, please understand the benefits of strength training:

1.  Boosts testosterone

2.  Helps you with confidence in tough situations on the court or field.

3.  Boosts neurotropic chemicals that help with executive function, learning readiness, mood, self-regulation, and improve responses to mental and physical challenges.

4.  Bone and muscle density increase.  High-intensity workouts help you store more glucose, water, and ATP in your muscles and electrolytes to increase action potentials, but they also teach your brain to use muscles to understand the action potential needed to perform at high or even lower levels of activity.

5.  All in all, if you want to be the "most male" you can be, get in the weight room.  And I'm not kidding.  The same goes for adult men, too.   Sleep, getting sun, good nutrition, and high-intensity workouts are the best for burning excess fat.

October 2026- January 2027:  Still Don't Stop Believing!  

A. Keep building and developing your strength and speed.  

B. Listen to your football, basketball, or soccer coaches when they remind you to be accountable to your teammates and to make team-oriented concepts work for team success.  

C. Pick up your stick, pass and catch in wall ball, play indoor box or do an outdoor tourney(s).  

D. You got one shot at being the athlete you want to be. Now is the window that sets up your high school athletic career and decides your college opportunities, whether you play sports in college or not.   

February 2027- May 2027: NeverStop Believing!  Connection, Conversation, and Accountability drive your game, and you fight to earn and learn what young people do to become better young men, and that means doing what lesser men won't do!  If you've done your work from May 2026-Jan 2027, Feb through May becomes the REALITY you created!

Edwin Provancher improved throughout the year, and perhaps had his best game(s) of the year against SJPII, Bolles, Vero Beach, and First Academy.  Edwin's performance against Vero Beach was the "shot heard around Pirate Stadium" with each critical save that helped seal victory over the Fighting Indians! 

A 2026 season in Review:

1. Before Spring Break:

2. After Spring Break:

Awards to Date:

US Lacrosse South All America:  Connor O'Brien

2026 Saint Edward's Pirates' Awards:  Plaques have been ordered.

MVP:    

Connor O'Brien

Most Improved Player (coming into the season):  

(1) Brady McCoy, (2) Edwin Provancher

Most Improved Player (during the season):           

(1) Charlie Corrigan (2) Chase Colontrelle & Kayleb Redmon (3) Cole Holland

3D Award (Desire, Determination and Dedication) for each class:

Senior:              Matt Vatland.          (2)  Ivan Kelly

Junior:              Brady McCoy.          (2) Charlie Corrigan

Sophomore:     Dylan Colontrelle   

Freshman:        Turner Barnett        (2) Chase Colontrelle

8th grade:         Triston Scent.         (2)  Finn Conforti           

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Sunshine State Athletic Association Leaders:

Turner became an offensive force to be reckoned with in his freshman season, both on perimeter play and inside game. 

Eighth graders Triston Scent, Finn Conforti, and Shane Carroll made their marks on the varsity field.  Triston saw tons of playing time and became an effective LSM on a varsity squad.  Finn Conforti stepped up and became an excellent transitional force on our offense.  Shane Carroll made his moments count on the scoreboard!

Florida 1A & Florida1A District 8

Dylan Colontrelle used his athleticism and improved stickwork to become a much-improved SSDM who could also transition the ball to our offense.  He was injured late in the regular season, but he is guaranteed to be counted on to help make a difference in 2027.

Saint Edward's Player of the Game Awards:  Most games have a player of the game.  Some did not because the game did not warrant a Player of the Game recognition.

Our District & Regional playoff roster for 2026: